Brixton Village market visit - Federation Coffee and Kaosarn

The last time I ventured to Brixton was for a Fugees concert......and they are no longer so you imagine how long ago that was!!! I had read about Brixton Village Market a while back on the Timeout website so finally got my arse in gear and headed saf of the river to have a goo. Its a covered marketplace hidden away behind the regular Brixton street market full of little food stores and cafes/restaurants. I arrived mid-morning and had a good wander around; not all the restaurants were open so I popped into Federation Coffee for a cup of coffee and cake (my choice in this case was banana bread). The cafe had a nice cosy feel but I was disappointed with what I ordered; I am not a coffee connoisseur but my flat white lacked flavour and depth. The banana bread looked alright but tasted awful; it didn't have enough banana and whoever baked it had an idiotic idea that adding banana essence (???) would make it taste better......IT DOES NOT!! Despite paying an exorbitant £2 for a tiny "bread", it was so bad that I stopped eating after 2 bites. I might sound harsh in my review but it pisses me off so much when you get ripped off like this when I know full well that its not hard to make a better tasting product. 

Traces of banana but sadly, not enough

Brooks saddles mounted onto bits of frame - look cool but not entirely sure who's going to opt to sit on them?!

Lunchtime beckoned so I headed back out to the market and headed to Kaosarn for a steaming bowl of noodles and a comforting mug of hot lemongrass tea. Before ordering, I did ask how spicy the Kuay Tiew Tom Yum was going to be. My waitress said spicy but did ask how spicy I wanted it so I plumped for medium. It tasted delicious but because the weather was so cold, my nose started running when I tucked in. The staff thought they had made the noodles too spicy for me and immediately rushed over with a glass of water! It was that good that I'd been tempted to make the trip back for another meal :)

 

Blankets for the peeps sitting outside, it was chilly alright :)

 

Inside dining area not very big - 6-7 tables at the most, not much warmer either but then again, it wasn't full when I visited.

Kuay tiew tom yum - bowl of rice noodles in spicy broth. Think the broth is flavoured with lime, chillies, dried shrimp and coriander amongst other stuff. Not too spicy but just a little kick right at the end of each mouthful. The dish also had tasty pork mince, fishballs and deep fried prawns, yum! :)